The dangerous combo of last week's rapid snow melt, followed by heavy rain and a six-mile ice jam on the Missisquoi River, sent water gushing onto a stretch of Route 78 near the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge.

Now that temperatures plunged back down into the deep freeze, those floodwaters have become ice. Cars are encased. A boat and its trailer were pushed toward the road. And the frozen high-water mark was still visible on trees.

Public safety officials evacuated two dozen homes over the weekend, according to Swanton Village Manager Reg Beliveau. That included 35 people and six dogs. Foundry Street and North and South River Lane were placed on voluntary evacuations.

Additional homes on Monument Road in nearby Highgate were also evacuated, according to Swanton officials.

"It put some folks in serious jeopardy here," said Dave Blackmore, the regional administrator for the Vermont Agency of Transportation, who was overseeing flooding cleanup of Route 78 and assessing the road condition Monday.

Village of Swanton officials asked people who were displaced from their homes to not return without checking with village leaders, so they can receive important safety information.